The arrest in London of a radical French publisher under counter-terrorist powers has been referred to the police watchdog after the reviewer of terrorism legislation found that it was wrong.
Ernest Moret, 28, was held for almost 24 hours by counter-terrorist police and asked about his opinion of Emmanuel Macron and participation in anti-Macron protests after he arrived at St Pancras station in April for a book fair.
...is why on earth the UK police farce should be protecting a French politician in the first place? Given that there was no danger to that politician in this country, as he wasn't even here!
In a damning report published on Friday, Jonathan Hall KC, the reviewer of the terrorism legislation, said the police should not have used schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act to confiscate Moret’s phone and laptop and demand he reveal passcodes to the devices.
Moret’s lawyer, Richard Parry, said his client was “very pleased” with Hall’s report. “We will now be writing to the Met commissioner asking for a full apology and compensation for all the distress of the detention and everything else that’s followed.
“The police shouldn’t be doing this. They really need to get their house in order. Mr Moret has been the sacrificial lamb to highlight the extreme dangers of crossing the line from terrorism into public order policing. It has gone too far.”
You're not wrong, but I wish you hadn't stuck your hand in my pocket. Because we all know that's where the compensation is coming from in the first place...
Announcing that the case would be referred to the IOPC, Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said the force accepted that use of terrorism powers should be subject to “constant vigilance and attention to safeguards”. He added: “We fully cooperated with this review and we know how important it is that our work is as open and transparent as it can be, so that the public can have confidence and trust in what we do and how we do it.”
The public no longer has that, though, does it? Because they are well aware that the police no longer represent their interests, but those of everyone else instead.
It's about time the people breaking these laws get the punishment. Hit is their own pocket or going inside. Whilst they have no punishment there is no incentive for them to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Julia. Compensation should come from the pockets of those individuals who ordered the unlawful acts as well as those individuals who carried out the unlawful acts.
ReplyDeleteAnd that should apply to all public servants.
Any compensation should come from the salaries of the Police officers, for not knowing the law, and the Police Commissioner, as everything his officers do, is with his implied knowledge and permission. Of course, that is exactly what will happen, not.
ReplyDeletePenseivat
I imagine the French spook agency contacted one of ours to ask for the man to be "inconvenienced" upon arrival in GB. If that is the case then this request was passed down to plod, who complied.
ReplyDelete